Many people use paper and pen instead of computers for writing short pieces of text, in particular notes from telephone calls and meetings. The reason can be that there is no computer available, that both hands are needed to enter text efficiently via the computer's keyboard, or that it takes a long time to start up the right program in the computer. Even though the notes are written on a sheet of paper, people often also want to enter selected parts of them into a computer, for example a note about a meeting in a digital calendar or an address in a digital address book.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,852,434 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,477,012 show a device that makes it possible for a user to enter handwritten and hand-drawn information into a computer at the same time as the information is being written/drawn on the writing surface. The device comprises a writing surface on which a position code that codes X-Y-coordinates is arranged, and a special pen with a pen point, using which the user can write or draw on the writing surface. The pen also has a light source for illuminating the position code and a CCD sensor for receiving the light that is reflected from the position code. The position information received by the CCD sensor is sent to a computer for processing. This device appears to require a computer to be started up and a particular program to be opened before the user can begin to write on the writing surface.
Similar devices are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,661,506, U.S. Pat. No. 5,051,716, U.S. Pat. No. 5,652,412 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,442,147.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,932,863 shows how a user can access an electronic medium by reading off a symbol, code or the like in a printed item, for example a book, by means of a device. The device sends a signal with the read-off symbol to a control unit that executes a command corresponding to the symbol. A similar method is disclosed in WO 99/50787.
When making products with a position code and symbols that correspond to a command, it is necessary to have access to a sample product and a pen in order to test the product. However, it is desirable to avoid having to make the entire set of products that is to be produced before testing the product. This is expensive and difficult since a possible defect in the product would imply that the entire set of products would have to be printed once more. It would thus be desirable to have a method for making products according to the invention where this disadvantage is eliminated.